The Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) takes great pleasure in announcing that in 2022, the Government of Romania made its first ever voluntary contribution of €20,000 through the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agency for International Development Cooperation (RoAid). Romania is the 50th States Party of the ICC that makes a voluntary contribution to the TFV.
Welcoming this donation, Franziska Eckelmans, TFV Acting Executive Director thanked the Government of Romania saying “The TFV expresses its sincere appreciation to Romania for this first voluntary contribution and for Romania’s trust in the force of reparations for the victims of Rome Statute crimes.” Ms Eckelmans emphasized that the Trust Fund for Victims seeks to increase the number of ICC States Parties voluntarily contributing to its activities: “The higher the number of contributing States Parties the stronger are the foundations of the ICC’s reparative justice system, of which the activities of the Trust Fund for Victims form a pivotal part.”
To date, the TFV is implementing programmes in four reparation cases ordered by the ICC, the Lubanga, Katanga, Al Mahdi, and Ntaganda cases. The convicted persons in these cases were all found to be indigent and the TFV has responded to the ICC’s requests to consider complementing the payment of the reparations awards. Using the available voluntary contributions, the TFV is paying for the implementation of reparations awards in these four cases. Additional funds are urgently required to continue the reparation programme for the victims of the case Lubanga. The TFV has also engaged in the fifth reparations proceeding in Ongwen since the beginning of 2021.
The TFV’s situation-related activities include reparative programmes for the benefit of victims of Rome Statute crimes in the following ICC situation countries: Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda. The TFV will soon launch new programmes in Georgia, Kenya and Mali.
